ABOUT US

A Short history of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation

 

On 26th September 1936 a meeting was held to set up a Synagogue in the Rathmines / Rathgar / Terenure area to cater for the young families who were now living in these areas, and were too far to walk to Adelaide Road or Greenville Hall Synagogues. The Shul started in rented rooms at 6 Grosvenor Place, Rathmines, but in April 1940 52 Grosvenor Road was purchased.

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At Rosh Hashanah 1948 the Congregation moved from Rathmines to a Nissen Hut in the grounds of “Leoville” Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, which had been purchased on behalf of the Congregation by the late Woulfe Freedman and Erwin Goldwater some years before.

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The building of the New Terenure Synagogue commenced in August 1952 and was completed and dedicated on 30th August 1953.

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On Wednesday 9th February 1966, the Shul was set on fire. Several Siffrei Torah were destroyed, and the Shul itself was very badly damaged. The Nissen Hut, which had been turned into a function hall, was quickly converted back into a Shul, and no Shabbat Services were missed.

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On Sunday 26th May 1968, the newly refurbished Shul was rededicated.

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In January 1999, at Extraordinary meetings of the Terenure and Adelaide Road Congregations, the two Congregations agreed to merge. It was agreed that the Adelaide Road Synagogue would be sold, and that some of the proceeds of the sale would be used to build a new Mikveh and New Synagogue complex on the grounds at Terenure. From then, the Terenure Synagogue hosted the members of Adelaide, until 15th December 2004 when both Congregations held simultaneous Extraordinary General meetings and agreed to merge. The first Council Meeting of the new Dublin Hebrew congregation, Terenure was held on 25th January 2005.